


Think of you

by godfreyroman



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, CEO AU, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-11 22:26:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15325743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godfreyroman/pseuds/godfreyroman
Summary: He has some how managed to get the job of a lifetime at one of the biggest music companies in the country. But falling in love with the current acting CEO while trying to find yourself and become your own success seems like a good idea right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published piece in a while, my first fic for anything kpop related AND my first AU ever. Well we're close-ish to canon honestly but this has been such a talked about idea on twitter I wanted to put my own spin on it. CEO Jinyoung is real and alive folks.

Staring up at the tall glass building with over fifty windows he couldn’t help but hesitate with his next step; the job listing had said something like ‘producers with a degree or significant recommendation’ which wasn’t exactly something Jaebeom had. He was a high school drop out and had only ever produced music for a couple of his underground friends that needed to drop a mixtape or two. He wasn’t exactly world renowned or the best by any means but he needed a job and money. 

Taekwoon had convinced him to go, the guy could convince Jaebeom to do anything most of the time. They’d been friends since Jaebeom dropped out of high school; he’d moved in with him after his parents had kicked him out too after they met in a music store down in Hongdae where Taekwoon worked. He was a music composition major, going for his master’s in it and always complained that Jaebeom should have gone back to school because he had too much talent to waste it on producing music for people who didn’t pay him.

He’d helped Taekwoon mix his first mixtape, it was successful to a point where ‘fans’ had started showing up at the music store and that was how Jaebeom had gotten a lot more work; from up and comers to artists who had been at it for years had started coming to him and asking him to mix or produce something for him even if it was one song. 

Leo. Taekwoon went under the name Leo to fans and not close friends but to Jaebeom he was still Jung Taekwoon, a guy who took him in and taught him piano, gave him a job and treated him like he was his little brother. He was his family.

Now he was standing here, in front of the massive building with the letters ‘JYP’ on the front of it. He was dressed probably better than he usually was thanks to Taekwoon’s girlfriend. She was a stylist and photographer, it only made sense since she lived with them that she would always try to fix the way they both looked. She was a really kind and funny person, she treated him like family too, not even hesitating the take Taewoon brought him home and explained everything. 

He wore a grey shirt, dark black jacket over it and black jeans. His hair was slicked back and all they had asked for was some samples and a resume so he was set to go. 

Finding where he was suppose to go wasn’t hard because it seemed like everyone was headed the same way. He had no time to look around because everyone was being ushered in a specific direction. It was a mix of men and women but everyone had their own style, like the kind of street fashion you’d see around Hongdae or Sinsa-dong. He didn’t recognize anyone but he didn’t really expect to, as everyone was gathered in a hallway on the first floor with a door at the end of it. Jaebeom found a place standing by a water fountain built into the wall near the back of the line.

Some of the candidates looked more nervous than others, but some looked confident and were texting away. He spotted two men sitting together and reading, suddenly the next thing he realized was everyone was older than him. Well at least they looked older than him, he wanted to roll his eyes for even coming now; with the amount of experience these people had he was setup for rejection.

A petite woman with a clipboard came out and said they would start the interviews soon and anyone who wasn’t there on time wouldn’t be considered. She handed out tagged numbers for everyone and Jaebeom ended up being #22. There was 10 or so people behind him.

People were making light chatter and he zoned out suddenly wishing he was back at home with Nora in bed. He could leave, get some food and wait to go back home to tell Taekwoon that he didn’t make it and he was under qualified.

The woman before came back and took the first three people in for interviews and Jaebeom had another realization with the fact that the interviews would be group interviews to take down the amount of candidates quicker. He wasn’t very good at playing well with other people, it’s one of the reasons college didn’t work out. His parents wanted him to go to a competitive school which is what pushed him to not even attended his graduation or the last three weeks of high school effectively calling him a ‘high school dropout’.

He leaned against the wall checking his phone. The time cut off was 10am and the doors were now closed, he only had maybe 12 people behind him now. He shook his head thinking more and more about ducking out and just leaving; the doors were just a couple feet away. He’d started to see the looks from people, the almost pissed off or upset when they left the room. Some looked calm and fine but many didn’t look happy which only fueled the want to leave more.

He was at the head of the line when they took 19-21 and he realized there was no backing out. The nerves were setting in and he wished he could just bolt to the exit; but another 20 minutes past and three people exited the room all looking very upset, a tall beautiful woman with inky blue hair putting on her sunglasses as her heels clicked on the tile. She was shaking her head clutching her bag looking angry.

This was going to be terrible.

The woman came out again and looked at Jaebeom up and down for a second nodding. “22 through 24 please.” she said making a check mark on her clipboard.

They were taken inside the door which lead to yet another set of hallways. She took each of their resumes and printed out a sticker with each of their names on them and told them to put them on. She seemed drained already and Jaebeom realized she must have already been working for hours since these interviews started. She’d probably missed lunch at this point.

He stuck his name tag on his jacket and she told the three of them to follow her. He was with two other men; one was in his late 40s maybe? Tall, black trenchcoat, he was thin and had a mustache, his nametag said Sung Yo-Han. He looked famous, rich even. The other was in more relaxed casual clothes, tinted yellow glasses on the bridge of his nose with a name tag that read So Joon-Won. He looked like he was older than the other man but not by much. Jaebeom dropped his head and followed behind the two of them into a much larger room with three empty chairs. Across the large table was two women in suits, talking quietly and drinking coffee, a man on his phone another man who looked bored and another man who looked half asleep. 

The woman who had brought them in didn’t follow them she just closed the door behind them. The room was fairly empty, floors were tile, the table a dark cherry hardwood and with a tv on the back wall. They took their seats and the attention was suddenly all on them, he looked at each of the people across the table, one of the women pulled out a tablet and started looking over it.

Jaebeom’s eyes instantly went to the man who set down his phone to pay attention. He had slicked back hair, cut kind of short on the sides with soft cheeks but a really sharp jaw, plump lips and dark eyes. He suddenly wasn't listening to what the women started saying. The man’s eyes shifted suddenly and met Jaebeom’s. He was young, maybe his age? He looked even younger maybe. His hands were crossed on top of the table and for several seconds when their eyes met it felt like the world slowed down. He was expressionless but Jaebeom couldn’t take his eyes off of him until they looked away from him.

They started with asking simple introductions which was easy and then going off of credits, asking about what projects have they worked on, artists, their level of skill as they started going over their resumes. Jaebeom instantly knew he was the least qualified the second they started listing off the artists they have worked for while most of the people Jaebeom listed were underground rappers and artists or friends of Leo’s that he’s met through his collaborations. They started going through the files and playing some samples, some personal mixes and beats. 

When they started playing some of Jaebeom’s samples the reactions seem good to mixed. The guy in the suit was looking at him again.

“You sing?” The guy asked looking over his file on the tablet. “This is you singing?”

Jaebeom nodded messing with his hair out of a nervous habit. “Yeah a little? Just some. I’ve done my own stuff with a couple of buddies.” he nodded.

“First actual artist today.” The guy said nodding. “You’re good.”

Jaebeom felt his cheeks burn a little. “Uh thanks. Thank you.” he said with a nod and the guy just nodded and kept looking over his file. All sets of eyes were on him from the other side of the table, they looked kind of shocked.

“First one you’ve actually liked today.” One of the women said leaning back, her fringe almost covering her eyes. She sounded kind of annoyed.

The guy just shrugged leaning back himself and Jaebeom couldn't read him again, he was frustrating and almost impossibly so. They kept talking, going over thing after thing and then they looked to the guy again, the one who kept looking at his phone, looking kind of bored and said Jaebeom had a nice voice. They waited several seconds before he sat up straight.

“Sung Yohan-nim you seem incredibly qualified and have worked internationally as well which is very rare to find but I think your style of music and tone cannot bring anything new to the company at this time. So Joonwon-nim you are completely qualified and educated beyond what we could imagine having worked with so many upcoming artists and fresh faces on the scene you would be a perfect addition to the team but your requirements that you so graciously listed are incompatible with our ethics at the company.” 

The man said staring each of them dead in the eyes and then he hit Jaebeom. “Im Jaebeom-nim, you are incredibly under qualified, work primarily in several outdated systems, a drop out with not many recognized artists if any at all in your resume.” 

Jaebeom nodded becoming resigned instantly. He wasn’t qualified, he could have told everyone that, this had been an honest setup for failure and embarrassment. Now he had to go home and tell the two people that believed in him the most that he was a failure as well.

“You have a very nice voice and you are something our competitors wouldn’t expect.” The man said still staring at him making Jaebeom freeze. “Welcome to JYP Entertainment.”

His eyes snapped to him. “Excuse me?” Jaebeom heard from his side. He just stared at him. “He’s a kid.” One of the men on the other side of him said. 

“Everyone else can be excused. I have a meeting, can you start in a week?” The man asked getting up and Jaebeom stood instantly. “You need to meet the writers and mixers.” Everyone else at the table seemed annoyed and was rolling their eyes, shaking their head.

“Who left a child in charge?” The man Yonhan asked next to Jaebeom. 

The man’s eyes snapped up. “I’m Park Jinyoung, nephew to The Park Jinyoung-PDnim.” he said looking at him. “If you have a problem with my choice you can be escorted from the building.” The two men made sounds of disgust and leaving before they were removed.

Jaebeom stared at him, he was his height and even prettier up close. He was like something out of a film. He bowed instantly, “Park Jinyoung-nim. Thank you.” he said. His hands were sweating, he couldn’t believe this was happening. He was just hired at one of the biggest music production companies in the country. Park Jinyoung nodded.

“You can call me Jinyoung-nim. You’re still my hyung.” Park Jinyoung said looking him up and down without interest. “Have a nice afternoon.” he didn’t have anything else to say as he walked out, one of the women getting up to follow him leaving Jaebeom standing there staring at the wall.

He was escorted out by the woman from before who told him when he would have to come back to sign papers and get a pass and then when he would actually start working. Jaebeom was dazed, he felt like this was all some kind of joke or trick. Everyone else was suddenly gone? He didn’t even interview anyone else? How was that fair? They had all probably come from expecting at least to be interviewed. 

Park Jinyoung was at least an asshole if not incredibly unfair to employees from what he had already seen. Did he run the place? Or did he just kiss ass to take the highest spot and is abusing his power due to his name.

***********************

“He’s probably going to be an asshole.” Jaebeom said taking a sip of the the milk Taekwoon’s girlfriend Jihee yesterday morning. It was plum flavored, one of his favorites. He was sitting on the check out counter near the cash register of the empty store as Leo was fixing a drum kit someone was picking up when the store opened.

“You probably won’t even see him. You will probably never have to see him unless you have some meeting.” Taekwoon said not looking up from tightening a bolt. “He’s ‘acting’ CEO remember? Not actually the boss.” 

Jaebeom had looked it up when he’d gotten on the train back home. Park Jinyoung was the acting CEO for JYP himself. He was oversees opening up a company base in the United States for a year as of two months ago. He’d given his nephew the company; having no kids himself he trusted his nephew enough to run an entire company for year which meant he was smart. 

He’d looked Park Jinyoung up after and found out he was top of his class in college, never missed a test in fact. He was a couple of months younger than Jaebeom, a music business major and the little tidbits he read online said he was a bookworm, kept to himself and was very full of himself from what his classmates had said.

“Watch me get into a fight with him on the first day and never want to go back.” Jaebeom said shaking his head and taking a sip.

“You know you’ve been talking about him since your interview right? Two weeks ago?” Taekwoon said looking directly at him. Jaebeom didn’t see his point. “‘He’s cute for a guy.”

“Oh jesus.” Jaebeom said moving off the counter while rolling his eyes. “‘He’s probably fucking his female interns and shit. Probably the idols and trainee’s too, I didn’t get any kind of vibe from him. He looked at everyone weird not just me.” 

“Your bisexual radar isn’t triggered?” Taekwoon asked with a smirk.

“No.” Jaebeom confirmed checking his phone. He was dressed casually which was what he was told he could do. Light wash loose jeans, a long black graphic t-shirt, beanie and sneakers. He had his laptop with him, the badge with his picture that they sent him in the mail, his wallet and keys. He didn’t think he needed anything but he’d figure it out it was his first day anyway. 

“Nervous?” Taekwoon asked he was still staring at him. 

“‘No.” Jaebeom responded again.

“‘You’ll do great Mr. Def. Soul.” Taekwoon teased pushing his hair out of his eyes. He looked happy for him and Jaebeom dropped his head nodding. He was using his producer name, the one he went with when he met him in a teasing manner.

“I should start walking, two trains to get there and I want to be on time so.” Jaebeom said nodding. “Thanks hyung.”

“For helping you get your life together for once instead of you sitting at home and waiting for work to come in eating all of our food and stocking shelves here. I was hoping you would eventually leave the nest find a nice girl or guy who would put up with your want for more cats and your obsession with dancing late at night.” Taekwoon said. His eyes were soft, held some kind of hope but also something else, like worry or sadness. 

Jaebeom didn’t know what else to say. “‘I’ll text you during the day, probably call you when I leave to get lunch. I don’t have any friends.” He said playing with the cup still in his hands picking up his bag and moving toward the door. Taekwoon stood up wiping of his hands. He put his hand on Jaebeom’s shoulder to stop him and then Jaebeom hugged him.

He was the only person that felt like family left in his life. The older brother he was always missing and needed, someone who understood him and encouraged him to chase what little dreams he had.

“Go kick ass.” Taekwoon said letting him go with a pat on the back.

He left without another word to catch the next train into Hongdae.

***********************

Yeehun noona was one of the artist directors and showed him to one of the writing rooms. She was tall, taller than him actually and had short cut hair. She explained he would be seeing alot of her as she ran everything for scheduling times when idols would record and write. She was stern but she smiled alot, she reminded him of his mom a little.

She brought him to an empty bare room and told him he would be working with one of their new artists today that needed help writing a couple of songs. A soloist was all she said before walking out of the room again saying she would go get him.

Jaebeom spent the time alone to look around at the equipment in the room. Mixing consoles, a computer, midi board, a keyboard in the corner, a guitar in the other with a black leather couch against the wall. Everything you could possibly need to make music in one room, a door that lead to a recording room was on the other side of the wall. It was like heaven.

A half hour later she came back with a bright eyed looking kid, he was talking happily to her and she was smiling at him shaking her head. He was wearing a plain black hoodie and light wash jeans, he had black hair down to his ears, soft cheeks and a wide smile on his face that made him look young. Jaebeom stood the moment they entered and exchanged hellos and bows.

“Jaebeom this is your first artist, his name is Choi Youngjae. He’s 22, he can tell you the rest I’m sure.” Yeehun rubbed Youngjae’s back before leaving.

To say it was awkward for the first 10 minutes was an understatement, Youngejae was quiet at first and Jaebeom was even more quiet. Youngjae unpacked his things and sat down at the table in the corner of the room while Jaebeom sat across from him in silence while Youngjae messed around with his phone. Finally Jaebeom got up enough nerve to ask where they could find good food around the area and Youngjae’s eyes lit up like he’d just found out he won the lottery.

“Hyung, There are so many places! I have to take you to each one, there is a good cafe in the building and the cafeteria food is really good but there are so many other options. Do you live around here? We could have breakfast tomorrow and if you want we could have lunch today- I just really like food, cooking too.” Youngjae said with a laugh it made Jaebeom smile really wide.

“Yeah! I’d really like that a lot. I don’t live around here but I can come early?” Jaebeom said nodding. “‘I like everything so you can show me whatever. Do you live around here?”

Youngjae nodded. “‘About 9 blocks but yeah around. I live with my older brother. You’re new right? Super new? I’ve been here for around two years.” Youngjae said pulling out a notebook. “‘I have debut plans in 6 months so that’s what we’re working on. I got approved for a mini album? 6 or so songs?” Youngjae smiled again; “I’ve got two and an idea.”

“Two and an idea sounds fine, let’s listen and look them over.” Jaebeom said nodding.

Youngjae was easy to talk to after that, they would make light jokes every once in a while but they stuck to a lot of music talk. Styles, composition, sound, beat, the stuff Youngjae liked to listen to and how he wanted the overall flow of the album. He was a really relaxed person, easy to talk to and they vibed really well together and had alot in common. Youngjae wanted to perform and make music his entire life, he had one pet and most importantly he liked food just as much as Jaebeom did. 

When lunch rolled around and Youngjae took the reigns and ordered them food. They ate together not even leaving the room, the food was of course incredible due to his choosing; Tteokbokki with ramen and rice.

He found out during lunch that Youngejae was friends with a couple of other trainees and idols at the company, a duo that was training currently who’s names were Kim Yugyeom and a boy from Thailand named Bambam who were a rap unit and dance group. They were popular amongst the trainees and were going to debut after Youngjae did. He also knew Suzy and Sunmi, very famous female idols who he said he treated him like a baby but were very friendly. 

He talked about the life of a trainee which was hard, impossibly so. Barely any sleep, sticking to a diet, vocal lessons, dancing lessons, speaking lessons, everything you could possibly think of to train you for the industry that came after the music making part. Youngjae said he didn’t get alot of sleep, he wouldn’t until he debuted and even then he didn’t know what the future held.

Everyone at the company seemed like a big family from what he explained, everyone was nice and tried to help each other out but were very focused on their jobs or doing the very best as any company should be. But the company seemed to treat people fairly in his eyes, the staff felt like family he explained.

“You met the boss?” Youngjae asked between bites.

“Yeehun is my boss for the most part-“ Jaebeom started.

Youngjae shook his head “‘No no she’s the idol boss, your boss is the big guns. JYP is really cool and funny, don’t see him very often because he’s away but the new guy his nephew? He has a whole stick up his ass.” Youngjae said bursting out laughing. Jaebeom laughed taking another bite and nodding along. “‘He’s kind of funny though he looks like he knows what he’s doing and then he walked into the woman’s bathroom yesterday and everyone was laughing at him for a half hour so I heard.”

“He sounds like a complete mess, an asshole and a mess.” Jaebeom said shaking his head.

Youngjae nodded. “‘He’s filler, I’m going to avoid him as much as I can. He’s only said Hi to me so far so I’m not ready to run just yet.” He said. He looked at his phone. “‘My mom is coming over for dinner with my brother and I tonight and he told me to shop so I have like 3 hours before I’m running.”

“We can eat and work.” Jaebeom said pulling out the notebook.

“We could also talk and eat because we can be here early tomorrow and work.” Youngjae said with a smile. 

Jaebeom could work with that.

***********************

The two were so easy Jaebeom didn’t even think it felt like a job, maybe because he was only working with Youngjae everyday but he spent a lot of his time writing with him, eating and telling each other about their lives. Youngjae spent a lot of time with his dog and family as he'd mentioned before but he did see his parents often whenever they would come and visit. He didn't press Jaebeom about his parents when he told them they weren't in his life at the moment. He told him more about Taekwoon and Nora in those few days. Nora being his cat and also his soulmate. 

He met some of the other producers, ones outside of the company that Youngjae liked to work with, friends of friends he said. Everyone was so relaxed and cool that Jaebeom felt right at home, like he was working with the underground artists he’d worked with for years.

Youngjae was taking off for vocal lessons across town every Saturday which meant Jaebeom was working in the studio alone mixing one of the new tracks. He’d fallen into a routine from the previous Saturday where he would come in early leaving Taekwoon to have more alone time with Jihee and not have Jaebeom constantly in the house, they deserved it for putting up with him as much as they did. He would order food and work, some stuff for Youngjae and some stuff on the side he had ideas for but the equipment here was much better than what he had at home.

They’d put his name on the door two days after he'd actually started working there he had come in and stared at it for 15 minutes before Youngjae got there and asked him what was wrong. He didn't have the words to explain the feeling he felt looking at it; He’d never had his name on the door of anywhere before, especially in a building that produced and created music; he’d dreamed of this for so long and it still felt like it wasn't really happening, like he’d wake up from this dream eventually. He liked the way Taekwoon put it after he’d called him on his first day during a break.

_‘You were meant to be there! Music is in your blood, no one can take that away from you.’_

He was laying on his back on the floor, laptop on the floor playing a rough version of a song he’d been working on for a while; it had a gentle tone something he could see himself using on a future release. Maybe he would keep this one for himself since he hadn’t sampled it to Youngjae yet. He looked around at the empty boxes of take out black bean noodles and smiled a little; he could get used to this life. Definitely. 

“This isn’t your house.” A voice broke through the soft sound of the track.

Jaebeom shot up at the voice cursing as he saw a dressed down Park Jinyoung standing in the doorway. He shut off the music and looked at him better, he had a bag on his shoulder and a book in his hand, black rimmed glasses on and a facemask pulled down onto his chin, five o’clock shadow just grazing his upper lip and cheeks. He wore a dark sweater and jeans. He looked human, kind of normal actually.

Pausing he held his breath as he answered. “I’m not living here, it’s the weekend so I figured no one would really be in Jinyoung-nim.” Jaebeom said standing up and bowing in hello. He hadn’t seen him since the day he got hired, he lived on the higher floors he supposed so he probably wouldn't really see him much. He hadn't actually thought of him much since he'd actually started working. He looked...good? kind of tired and a little bored but good. 

“You can’t just live here. You do have somewhere to live right?” Jinyoung asked looking him up and down, again his expression was kind of unreadable and Jaebeom hated it.

He wanted to glare. “I’m not homeless.” Jaebeom said in a clipped tone. He just assumed because he was here eating and hanging out that he didn't have anywhere else to go? Really. By the way he looked alone? Fuck him.

“Good. Clean up in here. It may be your 'office' but it’s also a recording room for artists.” Jinyoung said glancing around.

Jaebeom decided to turn the tables. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Jinyoung paused his eyes on him for a long second. “I come here to study on the weekend, the view from the top floor is nice and relaxing.” he said sounding a little annoyed. “I can go and come as a please. I’m running the place.” 

“You’re actually just filling in.” Jaebeom corrected kind of cocky. He knew he was pushing but he was making it too easy.

Jinyoung narrowed his eyes. “You do know I hold the future of your job in my hands right _hyung_?” he said. 

Jaebeom crossed his arms. “I do _Jinyoung-nim_ I just don’t think you have the right to judge people by the way they look assuming they don’t have a home. I’m here because I’m actually doing my job. I do apologize for making a mess which I will clean up but I have just as right to be here as you do as I am your employee.” he said making his point.

Jinyoung stared at him for a long minute, a minute that lasted so long it felt like the room went cold. His gaze was intense to say the least, kind of like he wanted to say something but he couldn't. He blinked a couple of times after that looking around at the floor and mess, nodding and patting his hand on the door frame. “Clean the room.” he said without another word leaving.

Jaebeom’s shoulders dropped instantly, the weight of the room lifting off his shoulders a weight he didn't even know had settled since Park Jinyoung got there. There was one thing he knew now above all else.

This just got alot harder because he needed to avoid Park Jinyoung-nim at all costs.

***********************


	2. He's not that bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the nice response to the fic! I'm so excited and really hope everyone enjoyed it so far, here is chapter two and we are definitely kicking it up a notch :D

Nora found him when she was a kitten and he was 17; leaving home before he ever graduated and then spending months trapped inside of either the store or Taekwoon’s apartment left him feeling kind of cooped up and trapped. As they were walking home from the store one afternoon he spotted her in the window of the pet shop on their route. She’d been pacing around, ignoring the other cats in the glass little cage with her who were playing and running around. She was a prime example of how he felt during that time; like a trapped animal just waiting to run free. 

Taekwoon didn’t have any animals at home so he said he wouldn’t mind but Jaebeom would have to take care of her entirely. He would have to do everything and pay for everything she needed on his own which Taekwoon gave him some cash for working at the store but after that, he started working harder and more hours just to be able to get her and keep her comfortable. 

The day he got her home she ran for miles around the house, back and forth jumping on everything, climbing under everything so excited to finally be free and it was honestly the first time Jaebeom realized how much he had in common with cats. How he grew up feeling trapped in something he didn’t really want to do when he grew up and now he was free and he needed to learn to do something with that freedom.

Now she was much bigger, soft and fluffy and a lot calmer. She slept on top of him or right by his head, she was so obedient and well mannered. She kept him feeling at ease, she was the best thing that ever happened to him next to meeting Taekwoon and Jihee. He was laying in bed dressed for ‘work’ he didn’t have to come in until later today because Youngjae had lessons again with Nora by his head purring up a storm.

His mind kept drifting to Jinyoung. His plan was to avoid him, make sure he wouldn’t even have to walk down the same hallway as him if he could manage it. He’d already gone an entire five days with his plan in effect and he hadn’t seen him. He couldn’t get their last meeting out of his head though; Jinyoung definitely had a stick up his ass like Youngjae had said but there was something interesting about him. He definitely was really nice to look at but the chance of him ever taking any kind of interest in Jaebeom was slim to none; he looked and acted as straight as they come and on top of that he was the acting CEO of a major fucking company.

He checked his phone and saw he had one text message from Yeehun.

_Meeting. 11:10. Random I know but we need a progress report on Youngjae asap._

The time said 11am on his phone. He’d be late to the first meeting he ever had.

Wonderful.

The first train took 25 minutes and the second took another 20. By the time he ended up rushing through the streets of Hongdae toward the big glass building with the shiny blue letters on it, he was late no doubt about it. He hadn’t run for any reason in a long fucking time, his breathing was hard and he’d taken off the cap he had been wearing so his hair was ruined even more than he thought it could be.

Yeehun was waiting on the 3rd floor right outside the elevators with a shrugged look on her face. She just started shaking her head. “It’s 11:56 Jaebeom,” she said with a long drawn out sigh.

“I...need warning...I can’t just...run-”

“You need to take taxi’s even with traffic it-”

“I don’t have the money for that,” Jaebeom whispered shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. “I missed it then? It’s over?”

Yeehun nodded. “It was short don’t worry about it. I’ll fill you in, it wasn’t a terrible miss I promise you’re fine but at the drop of a hat, the big guns need to know the progress of the upcoming artists a lot? He wants to make sure they are on track and he doesn’t want anyone falling behind of schedule and he can’t ask the artists he’s not...friendly with them so he assumes they will lie to him about how far along they are.”

“He wants and assumes a lot of things doesn’t he,” Jaebeom said under his breath.

Yeehun just looked at him for a long second. “He’s a kid,” she said softly shaking her head. “The way I see it? He has no idea what he’s doing and he’s panicking a lot. No one likes him, he’s new, he took over the biggest job in the company without ever being in the building even once. He’s- I think he’s scared and even the most rational people do crazy things when they are scared.”

Jaebeom paused. He’d never thought of it like that, is that why he hid in his office? Never came down to the lower floors? No one liked him and he was freaking out so he thought hiding was a better idea? “He’s not like The Beast, he shouldn’t be hiding in a tower afraid of what everyone thinks of him.” Jaebeom said.

“I would be when I saw the way that boardroom looked at him. I think the rest of the board members are just waiting for him to mess up so they can report it to JYP and get him fired.” Yeehun said shaking her head. “He’s never been mean to me so maybe I’m a lucky one.”

Maybe to Jinyoung-nim, she’s just a pretty noona who does everything he says and thinks he’s a baby who needs help. He’s probably just into her.

They parted ways after that. Youngjae wasn’t even due in at the company until around 2pm today so Jaebeom had time to kill. He texted Taekwoon to tell him where he was and why he was there so much earlier than he planned; Taekwoon just reminded him to eat lunch because he hadn’t eaten breakfast and that he would see him tonight.

Jaebeom, on the other hand, was too on edge from running, missing a meeting and being pissed off, in general, to even consider eating. He started working on finishing the ending of the track he and Youngjae had finished recording the day before.

He wanted a softer sound with a lot of big elements for this song. They had a title and it was only a couple of clicks away from being fully finished. The first full song he’d ever mixed and produced for the company and that feeling alone relaxed him putting him into a rhythm of work that he craved and needed. He didn’t even realize the time when checked again and it said three hours have passed, Youngjae was late too.

Pulling up his phone he saw the text explaining why.

_I forgot I have school. I’m dying now, I’ll come in really early tomorrow I’m sorry!!!_

_Youngjae._

He jumped at the sudden knock on the door just as he was realizing that he could literally go home whenever he wanted to now that Youngjae wasn’t coming in. “Come in,” he yelled out turning down the song and sending him a quick reply just to let him know it was fine and he would see him tomorrow, also not to die because he needed him. Youngjae instantly replied with a bunch of rolling around laughing bunny emoji’s that made Jaebeom smile.

Looking up, on the other hand, made the smile drop right off of his face.

Jinyoung-nim was standing in his room for the second time in his life. He stood to bow and say hello out of respect, not because he wanted to or because he deserved it. He did the same. Jaebeom leaned up against the music console.

“Can I help you Jinyoung-nim?” Jaebeom asked putting his phone away.

He has dressed in that suit again, the one he wore on the day he met him and his hair was slicked back. A huge difference from the look he’d had on that Saturday. “You didn’t show at the meeting today but Yeehun noona explained why,” Jinyoung said.

“It won’t happen again. I just need a slight warning of when and I will be there so I apologize.” Jaebeom said letting a pregnant pause filled the room.

Jinyoung nodded looking at the laptop behind him. “How is Youngjae doing then? Have you gotten anything done for him?” he asked.

“We are just finishing up one song. He has school today so I’m going to send him the final product after I finish cleaning it up. We have writing ongoing for another one after this which will bring him to four songs total but he does want me to retouch the other two that were done before I got here so I’m working on that.” Jaebeom said with a nod.

Another pause.

“Can I hear it?” Jinyoung asked looking at him with curious eyes.

“Yeah. I assumed someone would have to hear all of them so they are approved for the album.” Jaebeom said turning to the laptop to turn up the sound on the console and pressing play so the music flowed through the room. Youngjae’s melodic voice filling the room with a sweet gentle hum and soft sound. He looked at Jinyoung for a reaction the entire time trying not to stare at him but just seeing his expression. He was just nodding slowly along to it. 

When it ended Jaebeom turned down the sound and leaned back up against the console again. 

“I like it, it’s very sad but beautiful,” Jinyoung-nim said with a nod. “You’ve done well.”

Jaebeom felt weird hearing those words come out of his mouth, hearing praise. “Uh...Thanks,” he said nodding looking at his shoes.

“You’ve kept the room clean too,” Jinyoung said with another nod. Just as he said that Jaebeom’s stomach decided to make an appearance because he hadn’t eaten at all today and it was reminding him that it was 3pm and he was starving.

“Sorry. I haven’t had food today.” Jaebeom said shaking his head. “Bad choices all around.”

“Nothing?” Jinyoung asked with raised eyebrows. “You can order food and eat here I didn’t say it like that-”

“I know,” Jaebeom said nodding. “I just haven’t had time and didn’t really want to.”

Jinyoung fell silent just staring at him, he opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Do you want to eat food with me?” he asked.

Alarms went off in Jaebeom’s head suddenly. Eating food with him would mean he would have to talk to him for a long period of time, he’d have to probably sit close to him. He opened his mouth to respond but Jinyoung cut him off.

“You don’t have to. I only had breakfast and just ordered a late lunch to my office, you probably don’t want it anyway-”

“I never said that. You didn’t even let me respond.” Jaebeom said giving him a look. “You need to let people speak and explain before you just assume.” Jinyoung dropped his gaze and didn’t respond with some snarky comeback like before, he didn’t look angry that Jaebeom told him off either. “I’d like to eat with you yes.”

Jinyoung’s head shot up. “Really?” he asked.

“Yes really,” Jaebeom said his lips twitching wanting to smile. He looked actually excited to have someone say yes to eating with him. “Do people refuse to eat with you?”

“No,” Jinyoung said, it sounded like a lie but Jaebeom didn’t judge. “I just didn’t think you would.”

Jaebeom tilted his head a little. “Why is that?” he asked 

“I get the sense our personalities are very different and wouldn’t be very good friends if we’d met under other circumstances,” Jinyoung said without hesitation. “You are excellent creatively and I’m more realistic.”

Jaebeom shook his head. “There you go again just assuming what you know about people, what they want and like. Not everyone is textbook, not everyone is how you perceive them.” Jaebeom didn’t want to tell him that he thought he was an asshole at first, he figured that might ruin the conversation and it wasn’t bad...he wasn’t bad right now. “How old are you again?”

“I’m 7 months younger than you,” Jinyoung said raising his eyebrows. “Did you look me up?”

“Guilty but I forgot how far off,” Jaebeom admitted. He didn’t see a point in lying to him, he was his boss. “There wasn’t really anything to see. You’re smart and hardworking from what the internet says but I don’t know anything else.”

Jinyoung nodded. “I guess you can’t learn everything from what you assume,” he said softly.

“You promised me food.” Jaebeom reminded him. “Your office or-”

“Mine,” Jinyoung said nodding. “Of course you’re hungry we can go.”

It was late afternoon so everyone was either already back from lunch or working. It wasn’t busy around but Jaebeom didn’t really notice as they walked to the elevator together. He instead had his eyes trained on the sleek dark head of Jinyoung in front of him. They got in the elevator and the doors closed. It stopped one floor up for a woman who had a clipboard and a headset on, she could have been an intern but she was writing something down and didn’t seem to be fazed by them being in the elevator. As she reached over to press the 11th floor she dropped two pens on the floor. 

Jaebeom reached down to pick them up and handed them to her. 

“Thank you.” She said with a bow of her head and a smile. Jaebeom gave her one back watching her cheeks go pink as the elevator stopped again on her floor letting her out. She scurried away giving Jaebeom one last look.

It was quiet again until the elevator went four more floors up and stopped.

The first thing he saw was the view and it was absolutely unreal. The sweeping landscape of Hongdae all the way across Han River. It was like stepping into something out of a movie, lots of green and blue; the entire space felt calm just to look at, the traffic below them, the streets, cars, and people living their lives but all the way up here it was quiet. There was a small waiting area in front of it with couches and a table, then a hallway that spanned down with not many offices, maybe 5 or 6 total. 

“This is really nice,” Jaebeom said glancing over at Jinyoung who instantly looked out the glass wall of window. He thought for a second he caught him staring at him, just maybe. “Do you have an assistant?” 

Jinyoung looked confused. “Why and yes,” he said.

Jaebeom had also turned just enough in time to see a man who looked like he had been walking toward him, instantly turn around and walk back down the hallway the other way. “I think he was looking for you,” he said pointing in the direction he went.

“Come on. There’s not much to see if you’re expecting some massive office you’re wrong. This isn’t a movie.” Jinyoung said nodding his head toward the hallway. A door at the end of the hall with a desk sitting outside and the man he’d seen before sitting at it clicking away on his computer. “Jaebeom this is Mark Tuan, my assistant. He’s...American.” the tone in his voice sounded kind of teasing almost and the man, Mark gave him a look.

Mark was slightly shorter than him, was dressed in a suit probably because Jinyoung was but it didn’t look like it really suited his personality. He had messy dyed blond honey hair and small features. “Your food was delivered and it was getting cold,” he said in perfect Korean. 

“You just want to know if you can duck out early because the food got here before 4,” Jinyoung said seemly reading him like a book. “Go ahead.” he waved his hand.

“Nice meeting you Jaebeom,” Mark said with a short smile and bow before grabbing his phone and keys from the desk and walking right out.

Jinyoung opened his office door. “He’s fine, not the best but fine. I didn’t hire him let’s put it that way, he’s smart though so I have to give him credit,” he said looking at Jaebeom. “Do you like seafood? because that’s what I got. Chinese seafood, one of my favorites.”

“Chinese is fine with me. I’ll pretty much eat anything.” Jaebeom said looking around. His office, of course, was incredibly neat, books on the walls, records too. He said it wasn’t big but it was probably the size of Taekwoon’s entire apartment. It had a beautiful view, of course, corner office right on the edge of the building. 

It was a lot of food, Jinyoung assured him that he ate everything alone sometimes twice as much by himself because he liked Chinese food a lot. He’d taken his jacket off and Jaebeom couldn’t help but stare a little, just slightly at his forearms after he’d rolled up his sleeves. He had really nice arms, his skin looked soft. He distracted himself from staring because Jinyoung was an easy talker, he almost was just waiting for someone to say something so he could talk.

They talked about how Jaebeom got started in music at first, why he liked it, why he wanted to do it. Jinyoung had questions but he didn’t press when he noticed Jaebeom stop about school or family talk. He told him that he lived with a musician that Taekwoon really helped him and was basically like a brother to him. Jinyoung told him about college and oh man he loved college. He was double majoring now, he wanted to go for a masters in business but he was also taking English.

“I’d love to maybe become a professor after this,” Jinyoung said and Jaebeom could hear the passion in his voice. “I thought about journalism but it just isn’t for me. I love kids so I’d like to get my masters and maybe keep up my education credits to apply for a teaching job in the future.”

He had so much ambition, he wanted to do so many things. He didn’t talk about the company and Jaebeom knew then not to ask about it; the way he would avoid talking about now but just looked toward the future, it was almost as if he was thinking it would get better down the road. Between wanting to be a professor of english to running an entire music company he was working double in his life what Jaebeom had ever. He didn't have to go to school, he didn't have to worry about his families expectations of him or what anyone else wanted of him. He applied to work here because someone else told him to, not even because he felt like he could do it himself. 

They finished their food and were sitting across from each other, Jinyoung in a chair and Jaebeom on the couch, there was almost a comfortable silence being met until Jaebeom broke it.

“What is your assistant up to? Why did he want to leave early?” Jaebeom asked.

Jinyoung tipped his head back. “He’s a professional Overwatch champion, this is literally his side job to pay for that. Video games and all of that stuff, I can’t keep up with it. He’s told me about it but I don’t have the attention span just yet.” he shrugged.

“You must hang out a lot if he’s trying to teach you video games,” Jaebeom said with a small smile. “He looks older than you.”

“ _Mark hyung_ ,” Jinyoung said in a teasing tone shaking his head. “Yeah he’s a year older than both of us so next time you see him pull the hyung card. He’s been here for two years and barely understands that still.” Jaebeom laughed and Jinyoung smiled really wide his eyes crinkling leaving wrinkles by his eyes.

Shit, he was beautiful when he smiled too. It was really hard to get annoyed by him, every second that he spent with him it was so much harder.

“So, Mark hyung is your friend. Any other friends? I’ve delved into some of mine but I mix for a lot of people I’m friends with so the list is long.” Jaebeom said looking at him.

Jinyoung took a deep long breath. “I have two. Wonpil-sshi. He’s the same age, we go to school together and grew up together. The other friend you might know, Jackson Wang.” he said putting emphasis on his name and Jaebeom’s jaw dropped.

Jackson Wang a prodigy in the music industry, not only was he known globally but he was massive in China because he was born there and in Korea because of his music ‘transcending language’ as they always said in the news. He was very famous, working with American artists and people from everywhere and on top of that he was massively into charity and helping people. They called him a saint on the news pretty often.

“How did you become friends with him-”

“He’s my best friend,” Jinyoung said shaking his head. “He’s been through everything in my life with me. He transferred to my school in my first year of middle school and all the way through high school, by the end of it he was already getting publicity for his music but he got me through high school. He’s really an amazing person and I’m proud of him, very proud.” he nodded.

“That’s..so incredible wow, you don’t need a ton of friends you have amazing friends,” Jaebeom said leaning back. 

Jinyoung nodded his fingers sliding down the can of coke in his hands. “Wonpil-sshi is busy with work and school. Jackson is traveling all of the time, I worry about him but there isn’t much I can do so I’m here alone a lot. I don’t make friends easily so no one in school or here wants to talk to me. I’m pretty sure with the looks we got when we came up here everyone thinks I’m firing you.” he said with a sigh.

“Looks?” Jaebeom asked confused.

“People were staring, everyone was staring. You probably don’t want to be seen with me due to the fact that you will get stares, especially in the building.” Jinyoung said sitting up straighter. “I’m sorry for that.”

Jaebeom stared at him. “I don’t care about looks or stares I can hang out with who I want,” he said sharply. “No one can control what I do.”

Jinyoung’s eyes tipped up to meet his eyes, he looked kind of sad. “You don’t have to lie and pretend. I know everyone talks about me, I’m not asking you to rat anyone out. I don’t care, you don’t have to act like-”

“You’re my friend now,” Jaebeom said putting his feet up on the couch. “End of story we’re friends now.” He sat up a little and pointed a finger at him. “You can’t drop honorifics, on the other hand, I demand entitlement.”

The last expected reaction was the one he got. Jinyoung burst out into laughter, head tipping back laughter with his hand covering his mouth. His eyes crinkled all the way and the sound of his laughter alone made Jaebeom’s heart pick up. 

This was different, this was so different. He’d dated before of course, girls and guys but this was weird the feeling of not wanting this feeling to be rushed, he didn’t want to just kiss him he wanted to see him smile. He deserved friends because he wasn’t some evil that needed to be defeated or hidden away from; he deserved to be happy and Jaebeom wanted to see him happy. 

Jinyoung was running his hands on his slacks and nodding now. “Friends is good. I want more friends,” he said sounding honest. He looked over at the clock. “You know it’s almost 7?”

“What?” Jaebeom asked looking around. The clock said 6:45, he’d been at work much longer than he ever imagined. He needed to get home, he was supposed to have dinner and now he wasn’t at all hungry. He’d still eat though, he had to and food was food. “I have to go. Taekwoon and Jihee are probably…” he looked at his phone seeing missed notification after missed notification. He hadn’t even heard it go off, neither of them had. “Jihee is Taekwoon’s girlfriend. I forgot to mention that but I should probably go.”

“Of course, go ahead,” Jinyoung said standing as Jaebeom did. 

Jaebeom stole a fortune cookie off the table and put his phone in his pocket. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked. 

“Studying. I have an exam in the morning and won’t be in the office until the afternoon.” Jinyoung said with a nod before narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

“I was just wondering when I can repay you for the food,” Jaebeom said giving him a smile.

“Not needed. It was food for me and it goes on the company card anyway-”

“I want to.” Jaebeom cut him off. “Lunch tomorrow? I’m having breakfast with Youngjae so all of my meals will be planned out that way.”

“I have meetings in the afternoon,” Jinyoung said, he was playing with his hands. “I can do lunch the next day?” 

Jaebeom shook his head. “I won’t be here the next day, Youngjae has lessons again. How does Friday sound?” he asked and Jinyoung shook his head and Jaebeom laughed. “We’re always busy.”

“Will you be here Saturday?” Jinyoung asked then. “You shouldn’t be but-”

“I planned on coming in. Why are you having another study session up here?” Jaebeom asked, He looked kind of flustered for a second and Jaebeom smiled more. “You are. I can come up yeah. I’m picking, Youngjae has shown me a few places around here I really like so far so I’ll order in okay?”

“I’ll see you on Saturday then hyung,” Jinyoung said nodding. 

Jaebeom nodded and suddenly he didn’t know what to do, should he touch him? Probably not. He did, he went for it and touched his upper arm before replying the same words and ducking out of his office letting himself breath the second he heard the office door click shut. He started toward the elevators and he kind of felt like he was walking on air. He had a friendly lunch with Jinyoung on Saturday. He was friends with Jinyoung-nim. He didn’t expect today to go like this at all.

The elevator doors closed taking him back down to his floor and he pulled open the fortune cookie popping half of it in his mouth and turning over the thin piece of paper to read it.

_Good things are on the horizon._

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments and Kudos are appreciated!  
> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/saltzmans) (I'm also an artist/illustrator!)


End file.
